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Faith of Ael
The Faith of Ael is the primary religion of the Kingdom of Linodus. It is based out of Anteron. Beliefs The Faith of Ael adheres to a creation myth that has been passed down through written word since the dawn of time. In the beginning, there was vast darkness inhabited only by demons. The Mother, creator of the universe, was imprisoned at the center of a vast vortex of dark energy, held in place by the foul magics of the demons, which sapped her own magic in order to power his prison. She came into this position when her creations, not content to simply assist her with the creation and ordering of the universe, turned against her, that they may have their own free will. One demon went by the name of Ael-Baran, and in the chaos of the Beginning, he often listened to the singing of the Mother’s prison as her magics thrummed throughout. The song of her sorrow''' '''caused Ael-Baran such grief that he slaughtered her prison’s guardian, Drakkon, and freed the Mother. For this, she named him Ael, champion of her cause, and gifted him with a blade, Sorrowsong. Ael became the first human-formed creature in the universe, for he forsook his practical demon body in favor of a form that was inspired by the Mother. Ael championed the Mother’s cause, slaughtering demons by the thousand, as she continued her work of ordering the universe. Though they tried many times to stop her and take back their chaotic way of life, the demons ultimately failed, and for their transgressions against their creator, they were banished to a realm of absolute nothingness, so they would not slay the eventual creations that the Mother made to populate her universe. Ael settled down on Erristan, and, charged by the Mother to populate it, created his son, Baranash, from his severed left hand. He crafted woman in the image of the Mother, from the dust of the stars and the waters of his world; the otherworldly materials that went into their creation explain why women are the fairer sex. Ael then crafted himself a new hand, made of crystal starlight, and went to work shaping the land exactly how he wished it to be, creating the other races out of the other materials he had available. The elves were carved from trees and so on and so forth. Ael even went so far as to create another realm for the spirits of his departed humans to go to when they die, that they may live on forever in happiness. With each creation, though, Ael grew weaker. Finally, when his world was done, Ael, with the last of his strength, hurled Sorrowsong into the sky, igniting it into a great ball of fire that would burn for all eternity, lighting the world with the light of his Mother. Ael then died where he stood, at the center of a small island to the north of Erristan, creating a massive, vaguely hand-shaped lake, known as the Starshard, for its crystalline waters and unimaginable purity. The humans populated the world, and Baranash became their king. He ruled well, passing the reins of his rule to his son, Mekkar, and on and on the succession went, with each king being accepted as ruler of the Central continent due to the strength of the Creator in his blood. As time went on, one king to rule over the entire planet strained relations with the many peoples of the world, all of whom wanted independence and to be able to make their own laws in order to advance their own cultures, which were repressed by the God-Kings. Eventually, the rule of the humans came down to two twins, Caelam and Velatyr. At this point in history, humanity was beginning to become culturally diverse, for they were found all over the planet and not just in one place. The laws and regulations established by their predecessors, however, were hampering the advancement of several different civilizations of humans; their laws were tailored to fit the hard, politically-minded men of the Central continent, and did nothing for the hunter-gatherers of the far eastern islands, who were somewhat unwillingly forced under the rule of the God-Kings. Caelam and Velatyr journeyed to the south, seeking guidance from Ael the Creator. The twins drowned themselves in the Starshard in order to end the tyranny of their line, rising as gods from the crystalline depths of the lake. Caelam and Velatyr returned to the central continent inhabiting the body of Rane, their chosen prophet, who established the Church in the central kingdom. In the Central Kingdom, where the seat of the God-Kings was, there raged a bloody civil war for eight years over who would rule the kingdom. Eventually, a new dynasty was established, as the strongest claimant to the throne was able to get it. From there on, the king ruled in harmony with the Church.